Railroad track, generally, is spiked to a rectangular metal holding plate or track plate which is likewise spiked to a solid, usually, rectangular wooden tie. It may be necessary, for a various number of reasons, to remove the track plate and spikes from the tie. Frequently, removal of the plate and spikes is accomplished because the section of track is being replaced or because the ties are being sold and salvaged.
Heretofore it has been necessary to remove the spikes individually prior to removing the track plate. Generally, at least four spikes, and sometimes as many as eight spikes, are used to fasten the rail and the track plate to the tie. Removal of the spikes individually is an arduous task which is also very time consuming. The spikes are usually removed with the aid of a long heavy crow bar. Unfortunately, due to the weight of the crow bar and the amount of energy expended in removing an individual spike a workman is not able to use the crow bar for a very long period of time.
Various machines have been devised to individually remove the spikes. These spike pullers include: Hursh, U.S. Pat. No. 2,945,674; Jimerson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,771,712; and, Janzer, U.S. Pat. No. 2,819,872. All of these machines suffer from the basic drawback that they operate individually on a spike and not on the entire plate and spikes unit.
Consequently, a machine for integrally lifting a bed plate from the tie while simultaneously removing the spikes is desirable. Such an apparatus has the advantage that only one operation is necessary to remove all of the spikes and the track plate as opposed to previous machines which required multiple time consuming operations.